Jordan McLean could have been exonerated for his tackle on Alex McKinnon. He could have received a 22-week suspension. Or anything in between. What made his NRL judiciary hearing almost unique was that there was no predictable estimate. Reasonable arguments could have supported any outcome; in giving him seven matches, the tribunal was trying to steer a compromise.

One part of McLean’s punishment is intangible. The pain he has been left with – he couldn’t even watch footage of the tackle - will dwarf the actual suspension. Seven weeks are nothing next to the regret McLean will carry, just as they are nothing next to the consequences McKinnon will face.

The Storm's Jordan McLean at the judiciary. Photo: Getty Images

It’s been argued that McLean’s psychic pain should have mitigated the sanction: that he has, or will have, suffered enough. But while the judiciary members had as much sympathy as anyone for McLean’s emotions, and as much concern for his well-being, its job is to adjudicate for the broader good of the game’s governance.

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The argument that McLean should have been exonerated, because he was part of a normal tackle that ended in a terribly abnormal result, ignores a basic principle of justice. You cannot divorce an action entirely from its result. A punch into fresh air is not as serious as one that fells its victim. A person who fires a gun into a wall is going to face milder consequences than another whose careless shot kills someone. A drunk driver who skids off a road and ends up on the nature strip will not face the same charges as a sober driver who hits a pedestrian.

The judiciary took account of the severity of McKinnon’s injury by adding four weeks to McLean’s suspension. Four weeks, in can be argued, is both excessive for what was an accident and grossly inadequate for the damage done. Should the other tacklers, Kenny and Jessie Bromwich, have been punished as well? Again, it is an attempt by the league to find a just path.

Staring into the abyss: Rugby league has endured a tough week of soul-searching. Illustration: Simon Letch

There is always a degree of imperfection in finding such compromises. Les Boyd received a 12-month suspension for breaking Darryl Brohman’s jaw in a State of Origin match in 1983. The graphic sight of Brohman’s teeth flying out, and his subsequent loss of an opportunity to play for Australia, meant Boyd would pay a high price.

If Boyd’s elbow had missed, he may not even have been penalised. Conversely, one of the most sickening collisions of a league player with the earth, even more perhaps than McKinnon’s, was when Melbourne’s Sisa Waqa went head-first into the ground from a huge leap during last year’s semi-final against Souths. It looked a certainty that Waqa would be injured for a long time, perhaps permanently. The next morning, he walked out of the sick bay. If he had broken his neck, would the innocent Souths player with whom he made contact, Dylan Farrell, have been suspended? Consequences can define culpability after the fact.

What McKinnon’s injury will leave behind for the game ranges far beyond McLean’s suspension. Lifting in tackles will be punished even more heavily than at present, and there are calls to limit the number of tacklers to two, which may alleviate some of the damage. Bill Harrigan has proposed penalising any tackler who lifts the ball-carrier’s legs from under him. None of these changes, however, would eliminate accidents.

An immediate emotional legacy of McKinnon’s injury is to remind everyone of what is at stake for players. Every NRL footballer is just one tackle away from causing, or suffering, a devastating injury. They all live on that edge. Spectators should have renewed respect for what the players are risking. Every tackle in every game in this contest of fast, powerful, heavy athletes has a shocking potential downside. Some parents may not want their children to play the game. You can’t think about McKinnon’s injury without having more cognisance of what players are risking.

Players could pay tribute to the seriousness of what they do by making a league-wide pact to stop faking head injuries. The same week McKinnon was hurt, Manly players were criticised for cynically telling a teammate to "stay down" so that the referee could watch the video and award them a high-tackle penalty against Parramatta. Players from every club do it, and it’s a blot on the game. Faking injuries breaks an unspoken contract between footballers, and violates the game’s reputation as a bastion of physical courage. Toughness in the face of injury distinguishes the rugby codes; injury-faking is a reason many spectators will never watch soccer. Fans quickly become cynical. A week after that Manly episode, Glenn Stewart was booed off by Roosters fans after being hit in the head by Jared Waerea-Hargraves. Stewart was genuinely concussed, but the Roosters crowd was paying Manly back for being a boy that cried wolf. When faking injuries becomes routine, something in the soul of the game is lost.

The league could help by repealing the rule that enables referees to rule on high shots by stopping the match and referring to video. What this does is give players an incentive to fake injury, without any appreciable decline in the number of high shots. If a referee sees high contact, he should penalise it. If he has missed it, and video later shows a reportable offence, by all means let the judiciary deal with it. But by stopping the game and giving players, via video replays, a reason to exploit a loophole, the league is inviting its own corruption.

This is a serious moment for rugby league, and the McKinnon injury should prompt wide self-reflection. The faking of injury breaches the fundamental code illuminated by Alex McKinnon’s injury and Jordan McLean’s suspension: consequences should not be toyed with. It would be a good thing if league players honoured McKinnon’s injury – gave him a legacy – by discontinuing the practice. Ending the faking of injuries is one way – one, we would hope, of many ways – of restoring the basic truth of physical courage out on the field, and renewing respect for the terrible risks that players run.

4 Apr
The NRL needs to be more transparent about how it punishes players who cause serious injury, Newcastle Knights coach Wayne Bennett said after his side lost forward Alex McKinnon to a broken neck last week.

3 Apr
Angry Newcastle officials have hit out at Melbourne over the club's defence of Jordan McLean and questioned why his Storm teammates Jesse and Kenny Bromwich weren't also charged over the tackle on Alex McKinnon.